The Stewart family includes Dwight, from top, Kimberly, Nadia and Nathan. Kimberly Stewart now is working as assistant principal at Discovery Middle School. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Kimberly Stewart has transitioned from assistant principal at Horizon Elementary School to work as assistant principal at Discovery Middle School.

“Discovery was my first home away from home when I relocated to Alabama in 1997,” Stewart said about relocating from St. Louis, Mo. “The thought of having the opportunity to reunite with the Discovery family was appealing and exciting.”

In St. Louis, she taught sixth-grade science at Compton-Drew Middle School. At Discovery, she taught seventh-grade language arts for 13.5 years. She has worked as Horizon’s assistant principal for 4.5 years.

At Discovery, Stewart will concentrate on curriculum and instruction in overseeing the school’s teaching and learning process. “That entails ensuring teachers receive appropriate professional development and access to effective research-based teaching strategies,” she said.

In addition, she will “ensure teachers are delivering quality instruction so our students can achieve optimum success.”

From all her contacts in school, she remembers one student who was very bright but liked to be off-task in class. “I gave that student the challenge of teaching the class one day. I, in turn, sat in his seat and became the student,” Stewart said.

“My behavior mimicked his perfectly, which proved quite a challenge to him, especially since his grade for the day depended upon his success in ensuring all students mastered the lesson,” Stewart said. “He wrote me a letter explaining his newfound understanding of the challenge of teaching.”

Almost magically, the student’s off-task behavior disappeared, she said. “That student moved away, but several years later he wrote me a letter of gratitude for his special opportunity. I still have that letter.”

In 2005, Stewart was named Discovery’s “Teacher of the Year.”

Stewart earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at St. Louis University and a master’s degree in administration and supervision from Grand Canyon University.

She and husband Dwight have been married 23 years. He works as a senior acquisition analyst on Redstone Arsenal. Their children are 16-year-old Nadia, a junior at Bob Jones High School, and 12-year-old Nathan, a Discovery seventh-grader.